Salted Caramel Macarons

I always talk about how much I love to cook, how much I love to bake and yes also how much I love to click food (never thought this would happen one day but it did!) but I rarely talk about what I dislike about food blogging. And I have to say that cleaning the mess that I create after cooking and clicking pictures is what I hate the most. I REALLY REALLY hate it. Okay sorry for the caps, I just wanted to make it clear how much I hate it! Urgh!

The other day I made these salted caramel macarons, the shell making part was easy and I didn’t create enough mess. And then I made the salted caramel sauce and the rest is history. I was too impatient to wait for the caramel to thicken a bit more and as soon as it cooled down a bit I started filling the macaron shells. No, that didn’t cause the problem, the problem was that I overfilled the shells. I don’t know why I did that when I very well know that I should never go high on the filling else it will ooze out. I have made macarons several time before so it wasn’t that this was the first time. But still I did it and because the salted caramel wasn’t pretty thick to begin with, it just started oozing out of all the shells. It was everywhere! I really can’t remember how much salted caramel I ate that day. And then I spent like 3 hours trying to click these pictures and at the end of it when I looked back, there was salted caramel and food all over the counter. I wish I was more organized. It took me 1 hour to clean and mop the the entire kitchen and living room. Phew!

Anyway now let’s talk about the good stuff, like these salted caramel macarons. In my opinion, there’s nothing like french macarons. I think they are the cutest, the prettiest and the tastiest treats ever! And when you fill them with salted caramel, they become magical, they really do! These cookies aren’t as hard to make as they are commonly perceived but yes they do need some practice. I often make macarons and I can now say that they come out pretty perfect. It didn’t happen overnight, it took some time to understand how it all works.

I have written a post on the Basics Of French Macarons before and that’s pretty much what I follow. If your macarons don’t come fine even after following all the steps, don’t worry, practice some more. The thing with macarons is that every step is critical and a minor mistake here and there can ruin these gorgeous cookies. You don’t have to undermix the batter and you don’t have to overmix either. This is easy to write but in reality to understand “how much to mix” and “when to stop” comes with practice. Once you get a hang of it, making macarons would be a piece of cake.

And guys do use sea salt for your salted caramel sauce. I always used to add regular salt to my salted caramel and then one day I added sea salt and I never looked back. I mean it makes a huge difference, so just give it a try! And if you have some salted caramel sauce left after filling the macaron shells, make this Salted Caramel Mocha!

Method

For Macaron Shells

Click here for step by step pictures. Everything is same except I didn’t add any color to these macaron shells. And click here for few tips and tricks on making french macarons.

For Salted Caramel Filling

To a heavy bottom pan on medium heat, add granulated sugar.

At first nothing will happen and then in few minutes the sugar will start forming clumps.

And it will then eventually melt completely.

While the sugar in melting, heat your cream (don’t boil) and set aside.

Once the sugar melts completely, add in the cream and stir for a minute.

Remove from heat and add butter. Remember to cut the butter into cubes before adding, mixes easily that way. And finally add sea salt and mix.

Let the caramel filling cool down, it will thicken as it cools. Pipe the cooled filling into piping bag and fill the macarons shells. And yes don’t do what I did, don’t go overboard with the filling!

Enjoy these delicious Salted Caramel Macarons!

* Using cream of tartar is optional but recommended. If you don’t have it, you can skip but it helps in stabilizing the egg whites.

* The macarons taste even better the next day when the flavors get intermingle.

* For the salted caramel filling, you can use unsalted butter. I prefer using salted butter.

* Adjust the amount of salt to your liking. I go with 2 teaspoons sea salt because I like very salty caramel, if you don’t stick to 1 teaspoon.

Ingredients

Macaron shells

Salted Caramel Filling

1cup- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar [you can use 1 cup, I took out 2 tablespoons because the macaron shells are already quite sweet]

1-2teaspoonssea salt, depending how salty you like your caramel

8tablespoonssalted butter, cubed

Instructions

Make the macaron shells

In a bowl mix together almond flour and powdered sugar.

Sift the mixture 3 times and set aside. This step is important for macarons to have that smooth top.

Separate eggs whites [they are best separated when cold] and keep them at room temperature for an hour before you start working on them. You can even leave them for 24 hours, this recipe does not work if egg whites are not at room temperature.

Beat the egg whites at high speed using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer or using your hand mixer.

When it begins to foam, add cream of tartar.

Keep beating till it reaches a shaving foam like consistency and then add the granulated sugar. Beat more till the egg whites develop stiff peaks and are shiny.

Fold the almond flour-powdered sugar mixture into the egg whites using a spatula. Don’t add the entire thing in one go, do it in 2-3 parts.

As you start mixing, the batter will be tough at first but will loosen up as you proceed. Do not undermix and do not overmix either.

The batter should not be runny but should still fall down from the spatula in a blob.

Transfer batter to pastry bag fitted with a ½ inch round tip. Pipe the batter onto the baking sheet lined with parchment paper making small blobs around an inch big.

After you have piped all the macarons, let them sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes, do not bake them immediately. If you bake them immediately, they will not develop their trademark “feets”.

These are stunning. They remind me of some amazing macaroons that I had in Paris, although they didn’t have any salted caramel flavour. Which is probably a good thing, otherwise I would have eaten them all!

I have to say I totally agree with you Manali. I love cooking and baking, but the clean up and then the photography are the pains. I always make a mess when taking the picture because one, I am not organized and then I think of different elements to add. Or like you I have crumbs and stuff falling all over the house. 🙂 My camera used to be my hubby’s but he told me he no longer wanted it because of my greasy hands always on it, ha brat! These macarons look amazing. I need to try to make these. I always get so scared and no worries sweetie, I would rather have to much filling then hardly any at all. Pinned!

These are gorgeous. Like, amazing. And my favorite flavor! Every time I see macarons, I check to see if they have salted caramel. As much as I love baking the food and writing about it, the photography is the part that scares me. You’re much better at it than I am, Manali!

These are perfect Manali! Salted caramel is the best, and I’ve always wanted to try a salted caramel macaron! I have to make these! Also – I’m the same about cleaning up, but I’m soooo awful at it, my parents always complain about how messy the kitchen is at home (oops), but I do make all of their food, so they can’t moan too much hahaha!!!

The cleaning up is absolutely the worst and such an easy excuse to quit blogging. Ugh! I completely understand. On the other hand, we get to photograph, tell stories, engage with our readers and share our recipes and that’s a big enough draw to do those dishes! Ha! These macarons Manali, are absolutely beautiful though – so you have to keep going! xoxo

I agree with the clean up being the worst part about running a food blog. I despise doing dishes! But when you make something as stunning as these macarons, it becomes worth it. Let the clean up sit for a day and enjoy your masterpiece!

So when u hate clicking pictures, they turn out soooo well, I cant even imagine what would happen if you actually LOVED it 😉 I just dont like macaroons, have tried so many times, even in Paris but i just cant get friendly with it:( About that pinterest friendly pics, even i use picmonkey but can u do post on it?

lol Shweta, I think you misread my post, I LOVE clicking pictures. I said I hate to clean the mess that I make after cooking and clicking, I wish I had a genie to clean everything! You don’t like macarons? like really? Okay, we can still be friends 😀 just kidding everyone’s taste is different , I think they are the tastiest treats ever! Yes I have been thinking to do a blog post on editing pictures , I will do one on PicMonkey too 🙂

Ugh, the clean-up part about food photography is totally the worst! So you’re not alone in that complete-and-total dislike. LOL. And these macarons? Oh man, I am SUCH a sucker for salted caramel anything so these are right up my alley! I’ve just gotta try. 🙂

The tartar cream, did u make it or it is easily available at stores? Also as you’ve already made them and lol its gonna be my first time even tasting one…they aernt too sweet are they? Always been scared when i try deserts :p

So I tried to make the caramel sauce 3 times and failed each. (And I’m usually good at these sort of things). Was hoping you had more steps to describe how to make the sauce, when I scroll down and find your separate recipe for it–which has some instructions out of order perhaps?? Maybe why I was messing it up? This recipe says melt sugar then add cream. When your other recipe says melt sugar, then add the butter! I will try with the butter first next time, just wanted to see which way it’s supposed to be? Thanks.

Hello Emma, Can you please tell me what exactly happens when you try to make the caramel sauce? Adding the butter or cream first won’t make much difference, the most important thing is to melt and cook the sugar till it reaches that dark brownish color. Please follow the instructions here – https://www.cookwithmanali.com/salted-caramel-sauce/, I am sure it will turn out perfect the next time.

The first time, I cooked the sugar to a too dark brown color, almost burnt. The next two times I tried to temper in the cream first to the cooked sugar but it didn’t temper in and half was hard sugar, and the other half was saucy. But I just finished my 4th try. Cooked the sugar then added the butter and it came out perfect!

There is a bakery in Yountville, CA …just a few miles from Napa and on right side of road. The macaroons are $2 each and they have about 20 flavors. People stand in long lines that wind outside. This bakery sells many wonderful baked goods. Learn to make these and you will save a lot of $$$. Many of the macroons are flavored with matching flavor filling. Many are bright colors so I am assuming food coloring ??

There is a bakery in Yountville, CA …just a few miles from Napa and on right side of road. The macaroons are $2 each and they have about 20 flavors. People stand in long lines that wind outside. This bakery sells many wonderful baked goods. Learn to make these and you will save a lot of $$$. Many of the macroons are flavored with matching flavor filling. Many are bright colors so I am assuming food coloring ??

These look amazing! Thank you for sharing your recipe! I have never made macaroons but I had decided that this weekend was my chance to test and perfect them! Salted caramel is one of my favorite flavor combos so I am starting with your recipe!!

I made these and they turned out perfectly. I used almond meal instead of almond flour which I believe was a little less fine but still worked well. I had to cook mine for 19 minutes because I made a larger cookie. Will definitely make again!

Hi, may I know what is the cream in the caramel sauce? Can I use fresh milk or full cream milk or yoghurt or is it whipping cream? I intend to make it this weekend so appreciate yr advice. Thank u and Happy Diwali!

Loved your story and yes can understand why you hate cleaning. Well, I would put up your recipe in our next food story on the website which i have mentioned in my credentials and would share the link with you because your recipe deserves the mention.

This is was my first attempt at making macarons and it was a disaster. Please specify that we are to FOLD IN the almond flour/powdered sugar. You said “mix in” so I continued to use my hand mixer to mix it in. Now they’re ruined. That was a lot of ingredients wasted.

Hi Christine, I am sorry it didn’t work out for you. I am sorry that my words confused you but nowhere have I mentioned in the recipe to use any kind of mixer for making macarons. You always have to use your hands, maybe I should have been more clear. Again apologizes for the wasted ingredients. This is a rather fail proof recipes since I have made it so many times but yes it wouldn’t work if you would use a mixer. The macaron batter is very sensitive. I have mentioned in this recipe to read this article before you make them for the first time https://www.cookwithmanali.com/french-macarons-basics/

yes for beating the egg whites, you can’t beat them to stiff stage with your hands..it would take lot of time..but I have not mentioned to use a mixer to mix the batter..

From my tips on making macarons “The most important thing is to not under-mix or over-mix the egg whites with the almond-sugar mix. You have to mix until they are well combined. The final mixture should be thick but if you drop it from a spatula it should fall down on it’s own. Be very careful here as under-mixing will result in cracked top and if you over-mix you won’t be able to get those ridges on the macarons. I think somewhere between 55-65 strokes when you are folding the egg white with the almond meal are sufficient. But then again this can vary and is not a fixed number. If you batter is too runny, you have over-mixed.”

I look forward to trying your recipe. I have tried one other and had the issue of the Macarons not settling flat. They kept the point from being popped. I even tapped the pan and pressed the point down when they were setting. Any ideas?

if they have those pointed edges,simple push them down ..I usually use a toothpick and just swirl it around! it works that way! This usually happens when the batter is more thick than it should be so probably needs few more strokes of mixing.

This is basically the recipe I use (except I use metric weights instead of imperial, better measuring control.) I use confectionery sugar instead of granulated in whipping egg whites and the cream of tartar I add in this sugar. I also ALWAYS age the egg whites minimum of 24 hours, maximum 3 days in refrigerator. Taking them out of refrigerator to bring to room temp while sifting almond flour & powdered sugar. From first batch I ever made months ago, haven’t had a batch that failed. I sell them at a Farmer’s Market, so have made many batches with varying fillings. (Fresh Strawberry Buttercream & Cinnamon Whiskey Buttercream always sell out quickly.) Sorry for digressing. My point is this is a very good recipe and you give excellent clear instructions. If someone has a failed batch it’s their human error, not the fault of the recipe or instructions.